Chapter Fourteen: The Weight of the Bond

Charlie felt weightless in Liam’s arms as he carefully lifted her off the cold floor and back onto the soft mattress. Her entire body throbbed with soreness, every muscle screaming in protest as he lowered her down gently. She winced slightly as her head hit the pillow, but the comforting scent of the twins helped settle the lingering panic in her chest. Still, her mind raced with a thousand thoughts, each one more overwhelming than the last.

Liam hovered beside her, his gaze never leaving her face as he helped pull the blanket over her. His touch was gentle, almost hesitant, as if he was afraid of hurting her further. Meanwhile, across the room, Luther remained standing by the door, his arms crossed over his chest, his expression clouded with uncertainty.

For a long moment, neither of the twins spoke. The silence stretched between them, filled only by the sound of Charlie’s ragged breathing. She could feel their presence, could sense them so acutely now. The bond between them hummed with a strange energy, alive and electric. It made her both uneasy and comforted. She hated how easily her body responded to it, how her heart calmed just by having them near.

Luther finally broke the silence, his voice deep and gravelly as he slowly approached the bed. His movements were cautious, like he was afraid of scaring her away. He stopped at the foot of the bed, his arms falling to his sides as he locked eyes with her.

“We need to talk,” Luther said quietly, his voice carrying a heavy weight. “About what happened after you passed out in the woods.”

Charlie’s heart skipped a beat, her mind flashing back to the clearing, to the agony of her unfinished shift and the terror of Alpha Greg’s attack. She could still feel his weight pressing down on her, could still hear the sickening sound of his fists connecting with her body. Her stomach twisted, and she shifted slightly under the blanket, her body tensing at the memory.

Liam noticed her reaction and reached out, placing a comforting hand on her arm. “You’re safe now,” he said softly. “He can’t hurt you anymore.”

Charlie’s eyes flickered between the two of them, her pulse quickening as a cold sense of dread settled over her. “What… what happened?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Luther took a deep breath before answering. “We found you in the clearing,” he said slowly, his eyes dark with emotion. “Our father was… he was hurting you. Beating you.” His jaw clenched as he spoke, his voice thick with anger and regret. “We didn’t hesitate. We attacked him.”

Charlie blinked in shock, her mind struggling to process the words. The twins had attacked their own father? For her?

“We didn’t have a choice,” Liam added, his hand tightening on her arm as he spoke. “He wasn’t going to stop, Charlie. He was going to kill you. So we had to end him first.”

Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at them, her heart pounding with disbelief. “But… he was your father,” she whispered. “How… how could you…”

Luther’s face hardened, his eyes glinting with a mixture of rage and sorrow. “That doesn’t matter,” he said, his voice firm. “We couldn’t let him hurt you. Not our mate.” His voice changed as he spoke, becoming more gravely and animalistic with each word.

Charlie’s mind spun with the weight of their words. The Alpha, their father—one of the most powerful wolves in the pack—had been killed… for her. The realization hit her like a freight train, leaving her breathless and disoriented. She had spent so long believing that she was nothing more than a burden, a weak omega that the pack had tolerated out of pity. But the twins—the future Alphas—had chosen her. They had fought for her. They had killed for her.

She swallowed hard, her throat dry and tight as she tried to make sense of it all. Her head swam with the enormity of what had happened, and she struggled to find the right words. “I… I don’t understand,” she murmured, her voice shaking. “Why would you do that? For me?”

“Because you’re our mate,” Liam said, his voice soft but filled with conviction. “We were meant to protect you. We failed you for too long, but rest assured that we will never allow anyone, or anything, to bring harm to you ever again.”

Charlie’s heart lurched at his words. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. All this time, she had thought she was alone—trapped in a world where she was nothing more than a punching bag for the pack. But now, here they were, telling her that she was their mate. That they would protect her. The weight of it all felt too heavy to bear.

Luther’s gaze softened as he watched her struggle with the truth. He took a small step closer, stopping at the foot of the bed. “We did what we had to do,” he said quietly. “Our father was never going to accept the bond between us. He would’ve kept hurting you until he got what he wanted.”

Charlie shuddered at the memory of Alpha Greg’s cruel hands on her body, his voice filled with sick satisfaction as he had pinned her down. She could still feel the sting of his slap, the sickening crack of her bones breaking under his fists. Her stomach turned as the memories flooded her mind, and she quickly averted her gaze, staring down at the blanket covering her legs.

Luther hesitated for a moment before continuing. “After we…after we killed him, you were still in bad shape. Your shift wasn’t complete, and your wolf was too weak to heal you on her own.”

Charlie tensed, her breath catching as she recalled the unfinished shift. The pain, the confusion—it had been unlike anything she had ever experienced before. Her body had been stuck between forms, her wolf unable to push through the transition.

“We didn’t have much time,” Liam explained, his voice steady. “The only way to strengthen your wolf enough to heal you was for us to mark you.”

Charlie’s head shot up at his words, her eyes widening in shock. “You… you marked me?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Liam nodded, his gaze filled with intensity. “It was the only way to save you,” he said firmly. “Your wolf needed the bond to survive. If we hadn’t marked you, you wouldn’t have made it.”

The air in the room felt heavy, suffocating, as Charlie tried to process everything. Marked. She had been marked by both of them—claimed by the future Alphas as their mate. It was all too much to take in. Her mind reeled with the implications, the enormity of what had happened. She was no longer just Charlie, the pack’s omega. She was their Luna. A role that she never dreamed that she would take on.

But instead of feeling comforted by the bond, all Charlie felt was a deep sense of fear. How could they possibly want her? How could they have chosen her, after everything she had been through? She had spent so long being told that she was worthless, weak, and now… now she was expected to accept this bond, this new life with them.

As if sensing her turmoil, Liam placed a gentle hand on her arm, his touch grounding her in the moment. “We’ve been waiting three days for you to wake up,” he said quietly. “You’ve been in a deep sleep ever since the shift. Raven needed time to heal.”

Three days. Charlie’s eyes widened in disbelief. She had been unconscious for three days? Her heart raced as she processed the weight of his words. She had been so close to death—so close to losing everything.

Her gaze flickered between the two of them, her mind spinning with everything they had told her. She couldn’t believe it. She had been marked by the future Alphas. They had killed their father to protect her. And now, here she was, lying in one of their beds, marked as their mate.

It was all too much. Too overwhelming.

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as she tried to calm the storm raging inside her. But the fear lingered, gnawing at the edges of her mind. Despite their reassurances, despite the bond that connected them now, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she didn’t belong here. That she wasn’t worthy of the bond they had given her.

“I… I don’t know what to say,” Charlie whispered, her voice trembling. “I never thought… I never imagined…”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Luther said softly, his voice filled with understanding. “Just know that we’re here. We’ll always be here.”

Charlie nodded slowly, her heart heavy with conflicting emotions. She didn’t know what the future held for her—for them—but for the first time in her life, she wasn’t alone.

And that, at least, was something.